Jibikao

Yeah, I am still planning the build. It really really sucks that Stalker doesn't get Dragon Tail. I made a Scrapper MA/Elec but I have this under-dog mentality that I want to make Stalker. I know Scrapper does more damage especially with Dragon Tail. It's not the greatest aoe in the game but it's fast enough and with Stalker's 50% critical from hidden, it can be really handy on a larger team. Why does Stalker need Storm Kick?!!! Who needs 6 ST melee attacks in one set?? Such a design flaw IMO.

Well, I can't think of anything fancy with MA. The only thing it has over other sets is having 4 attacks higher than 10s recharge. At lower level +0 and against mobs that don't have much smashing resistance, one critical Axe can kill a minion. I am trying to throw in some damage procs so hopefully I can make it the best "burst" damage ST build.

Or who knows, I may end up leveling Scrapper because MA on Scrapper looks quite good.

Yikes.. my very first lvl 50 Dominator is Fire/Thorn. :P

hehe

Fortunata is my #1 favorite toon in CoX. She is the first toon that I bought all the expensive sets for and the first toon to reach 2nd tier alpha. :P I've also persuaded a friend who left his Fort on Virtue server (we are now on Freedom) to bring her to Freedom for shards. He eventually followed my build (his old build is so messed up) and now he says Fortunata is his best toon! muhahahaha.


He doesn't like melee that much and Fort gives everything he loves: good all-ranged damage, nuke with no crash, controls, mez protection (he really hates being mezzed), and god-mode defense. :P

I honestly think the current Assassin Strike sucks in PvE even after the change. It should improve our dps/dpa against "hard" target like AV and not hurt it. If they can just reduce activation time a bit, AV fight could be a bit better as you get a few seconds of "no-aggro" too.

It still bothers me that Stalker isn't even the best at taking down one tough target.

This is only partially true. I have a NW (all melee) and Fort (all range) build and while NW's damage is higher than Fort, the fact that she needs to be in melee can hurt dps as well. It takes time to find target, chase a target (runner or got knocked back) and NW is at much greater risk of dying than Fortunata who is all ranged. You deal zero damage when you die.

NW also has Slash which adds a lot to dps. Fort's "highest" damage attack (the "best" attack is Dominate!) is only Lunge. I am not too sure if melee Fort can really deal that much more damage than an all-ranged Fort that focuses on using Dominate, Gloom and Subdue. AoE damage wise, melee Fort has better damage in Spin for sure.


Edit: I also want to add that if you measure NW's damage against something like Pylon, then yeah, NW's damage is a lot higher because pylon doesn't move at all. My Fort still can't take Pylon down lower than 10%. I need more damage procs I think. :P But in general gameplay in pve, being all-ranged is still very beneficial.

I play my Fortunata more like Blaster than Dominator. I only use Dominate as my ST control and then I have two aoe control powers in Aura of Confusion and Psychic Wail (a nuke + stuns!).

I didn't take Confuse. I did take Scramble Thought before alpha because mag 4 stun is kinda handy when I fight two bosses. Stun set is good for set bonuses too but I find Scramble's activation too long (3 second) and it doesn't bring much to the table when I fight AVs. So, in my final alpha build, I took Darkest Night (I couldn't afford running 8 toggles + DN without Cardiac!) instead hoping that -damage can help a tiny bit. My Dominate already recharges so fast so I don't feel the need to have Scramble (but mag 4 stun is handy).

I would definitely take Aura of Confusion.

Those that say their experiences are "different" are not telling the whole picture. There is a big difference between Robot/Thug VS Other Primaries (I think Demon survives better because they have heal and fire resistance). Melee pets just don't survive long enough to be at melee range against those big aoe damage.

Your Crab's pets seem better because your crab could be carrying a lot of +defense. If you want your demons to survive better, you definitely want to slot pet uniques to increase their defense and resistance.

There are many factors why your MM pets die faster. If you get scaled up to 49, your pets may be fighting +3 to +4 difficulty. Yes, in that case, they can easily get one-shotted or two-shotted. And also, Demon's pets are hybrid melee/range so they attract more aggro than your crab pets. When you play Crab, you are doing more damage than the pets especially when you start with venom grenade and whatnot. Your Crab takes alpha, not your pets. Resistance-wise, MM pets actually have more variety than the Reinforcement spiders if I remember correctly.

I play mostly Necro/Pain now and the harder the mission, the more I hate my MM(s). They just can't handle big aoe attacks especially in BSF and Apex. I find the set bonuses don't help my pets much and I refuse to take taunt because if I want damage to myself, I would play something else.


If you are on a large team, don't send in your pets first. Let others take alpha and then you send in the pets. Since you are /Dark, you should start with Fearsome Stare and/or Darkest Night and then try to stay closer to your pets as the aoe healing radius is small.

And in apex, those crab pets die just as easily as MM's pets because they don't know how to dodge blue flame. :P You can't goto them the way you can with MM's pets. And also, during the last battle, your MMs are busier trying to goto and resummon and run away from swords than trying to take down Battle Maiden. Don't be fooled that just because the MMs are not dying, they are contributing a lot. They don't. With the current Pet AI, some pets will run in very quick and die in blue flame in 2s. It's a hard task alone trying to survive all the ambushes and dodging all the blue flame. Your MM's best tools in that situation is your secondary powers. Oh and I don't play Robot and Thug. :P

Yup and Dom also has pet(s) that can add even more DPS (if the pet doesn't die of course). So it is really hard to compare Corr VS Dom damage.

I would say, in general, you invite Dominator for Control + Damage and Corruptor for Support and Damage.

Do you have access to SoA? Fortunata and Crab/Soldier is an excellent range AT with excellent survival.

As for Corruptor VS Dominator, base damage-wise, Dominator is a lot higher especially if you use melee attacks but Corruptor's strength is in stacking buffs/debuffs.

I think Corr VS Dom damage comparison is like apple and orange. Most people compare Corr VS Defender or Dom VS Blaster.

I guess the key question is:

1. Do you like control powers? Do you like to control?

2. Do you use melee attacks a lot? If Yes, then go with Dom.

3. Do you like to support? If so, go with Corr.

Corr and Dominator's game play is too different.

No. lol I was trying to beat his regen... and then after he summoned 3 of them, I just got fed up with him and he regen back.

I actually didn't know those bifurcations help him regen because I've been doing alpha stuff with a friend and we normally kill him under 10s or so.

Edit: Another problem is I've been playing my alpha Bane a lot and his damage just feels so much higher. I feel my Kin's damage is kind of lacking until I see more critical hits.

Oh, Foresight is the best Passive power in the game. Its base defense is 7.5% to range, melee and AoE and offers 20% resistance to Psionic and I believe it offers some scaling resistance too when your health is lower.

When I think of Fortuanta, I think of all range attacks. I haven't really tried melee hybrid Fort as I think my range attack damage is good enough already.

Not sure about that "overall more effective" part because my Fortunata is extremely effective with damage, range damage and much better survival being at range, in air and with controls.

NW has better burst damage and much better ST DPS with follow up. My NW is actually Blood Widow concept by using follow-up and no mental attacks. However, NW's Psionic Scream actually does very good damage and from what I heard, it doesn't cause weapon redraw. You can open the battle with BU + Slash/Spin and run back for Scream cone attack. You can skip Mental Blast if you want and take Poison Dart for one range attack.


Some tips:
1. If you can, try to fit Tough into the build. Yes, NW has very high defense but she has very little health to back up her scaling resistance. In fact, if two bosses hit you at once (IE: Rikti bosses), it's instant death for you, which happened to me two days ago when we tried to do Master Lady Grey run.

2. Don't under-estimate the power of Vengence (only one slot needed). It is very useful when somebody dies. :P It helps the team so much especially if you have MMs on the team. Their pets will love you even more.

3. Endurance cost for NW is very high because you are attacking fast. Cardiac is a great alpha for that.

I heard Gravity control was a huge mess when they first designed. I was told one of the gravity powers used to phase out everything? Blah, I still don't like Dimension Shift but that's another topic.

You know what, I think you are right. I am still trying to think of any power that they simply change it to something else completely different.

What I was trying to explain to somebody else is that changing recharge on Bolt doesn't change the cottage rule and that if there is enough evidence that something needs to be changed, the dev should.

The only power I can think of that got totally changed is SoA's Patron Mace Mastery. It used to have Focused Accuracy but due to many complaints on the fact that SoA can already take two Tactics from secondary and power tool, one more Focused Accuracy doesn't really do anything. The dev eventually changed it to Shatter Armor. Not sure if this is a good cottage rule change (as the change was made before it hits Live) but that change is GOLDEN!!!!!!! It makes me love my Bane 5x more.

The only thing I can think of is teleporting MM's pets. Other than that, it is not hard to dodge those flames. What's hard is dodging flames while doing enough dps to kill BM.

And I think it's funny if the main teleport tp everyone into the flame on accident. LOL All dead...

I thought about team tp for my MMs but I've made a decision not to play any of my weak MMs (necro) in the new TF. I don't enjoy resummoning just because my pets die within seconds by +4 mobs.

That's a suggestion and a tip not a "rule" or "statement". There is no "correct" or "incorrect". Your all melee team uses envenomed daggers to counter regen but most people I play with don't use envenomed daggers and we are not interested in using all melee to prove anything. I believe in a balance of tanking, more range dps and some debuff/buffs for apex.

If I say all melee-team cannot complete Apex, then you can say I am incorrect.

Because most pets are so fragile that you want the heavy aggro on you. You are Robot so you also get some defense from Protector.

I don't like taunting as MM. I hate letting my pets run wild and I don't like taking hits when my pets are supposed to take hits for me. However, my favorite set like Necro and Ninja are so freaking fragile that they can't withstand one hit from higher level mobs. I find resummoning and upgrading equally as annoying.

Bodyguard is supposed to "guard" you while you are under some unfortunate attacks but with pets dying from AoE attacks left and right, you either taunt aggro to yourself or rely on your teammates to take aggro.


I know Provoke works well on Tanker-mind MM but that's not how I envision my Mastermind. My pets are my weapons and shields and they do a pretty bad job on it at lvl 50 and at higher level setting. I only play Necro and Merc btw.